Take time to know difference between a gator and a crocodile

Byline2:

Savannah

As we rolled down the river in Australia the tour guide asked if anyone knew the difference between an alligator and a crocodile. She laughed at the scientific answers. She said they were all correct. She then added in a chuckle, “The alligator and the crocodile only have two thoughts as a reptile. They are ‘yummy’ and ‘whoops.’ The alligator’s first thought is ‘whoops’ while the crocodile’s first thought is ‘yummy.’ ”

As I was paddling completely alone about 5 miles into the Okefenokee Swamp I came around a bend to see an alligator of quite large size sitting in the water looking straight at me. My first thought was “I sure hope he is thinking ‘whoops’ and not ‘yummy.” Thankfully, it was “whoops” as he dipped down into the water.

A little bit later as I settled under a cypress tree to eat lunch my thoughts turned to Job. Not job….Job. Job had been through miserable times. It had been a tough year and his friends were not helping.

God showed up. Where did he take Job? He took him to his creation. He talked about the birds, the water and the alligator (crocodile?). He wanted to know if Job was there when he created this beauty.

As my paddle hit the water the creation was a flame. It started with the sunrise. As the morning broke, creatures and flora of all kind glistened. Forget the “Playstation.” Forget “reality” TV. This is real. An owl sat perched in the cypress tree on the right canal bank. Birds of all sorts flew north, south, east and west. Alligators watched with beady eyes. The sandhill cranes were simply gorgeous. Water prairies exploded with blooming lilies. Butterflies came from everywhere. So much to see and only two eyes to see it!

On top of all the beauty was the silence. I was the only human in the water that day. I could hear the bird’s wings as they beat the ear. Each buzzing creature crated a new tone. The music of God’s creation filled my ears. It was all in rhythm.

As I looked and looked and listened… the grandeur of God’s creation spelled out the very words found in Job 10:25, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will take his stand on the earth.”

Amazingly, this truth hit home with the smallest creatures I could see that day. It was the tiny frogs hanging out on the water lilies waiting for the passing insect. Some were brown. Some were black. Others were green. A few were multi-colored. They were so small, so delicate and yet, so necessary.

We look for God, our Redeemer in the big and wonderful. He’s also right there in the little things. Job figured it out. I had to as well. This fallen world will have moments and some time extended periods where not much makes sense. We cry out with King David “How long O Lord, how long?”

We won’t find the answer trying to figure out man. We won’t find the answer boxed in by walls with noise emanating from a box on the wall. We won’t find the answer in books. When God’s children in the Scriptures are hurting he often takes them to his grand answer…creation.

When our eyes are on his work and off man, the “Whoops” in life often gets replaced by the “Yummy.”